Back from the 80’s - Where is everyone?

Hi,

I have just got back into CB again, my last activity was in the mid-late 80’s.
So far I am quite shocked (perhaps a bit naive) how quiet the standard CB band is (at least near my area, Sevenoaks).

Does anyone have recommendations on how to perhaps reach out on SSB to get more frequent contacts? Are there any regular UK regional SSB chats at specific channels / times? Any practical suggestions would be very much appreciated.

73’s Peter

Hi. Peter.

It is certainly a shock the trend follows the rise & fall of 11Sunspot
It will be quiet for 18mths then all Hell let loose. You could try the
Southern net tomorrow nite & every Thurs from 1930/2300 ish. I've
been on it many times from SW. they're on 27.395usb there's also a
FM net in London every nite on ch35. There are some more distant
ones like MWN & ECN up the east coast also PG/PD around Brum.
I've been on all these when conditions are better. 73's Mike.

Hello again Mike,

Maany thanks for your suggestion, which I will certainly give a try.

73's Peter

Peter.

Take a look at the "nets and skeds" area of this site.
This link is to the Southern net on Thursday as mentioned above. https://charlietangodxgroup.forumotion.com/t63p25-southern-area-ssb-net
Southern area ssb net

It's a friendly and welcoming place so give a shout out and get yourself going.
Be prepared to give your callsign, Personal and a location then wait for the chair to work you amongst the group.

I am going to be hiltopping from East Horsley in Surrey with my Grant 2 and tank whip, hopefully I'll be able to hear you and say Hi.

Kind regards.
Simon
CT2379

Cheers Simon, this is good to know and I will try and make contact.
I have no official CT call sign yet, so I will use my old 80’s CB handle “GoldenEagle”.

Exciting and hopefully I can be part of the fun.
I am very rusty on all the CB jargon and Q codes, so hopefully the fellow CB’ers will be forgiving ....

73’s
Peter

Hi Peter.

I didn't hear you last night to say Hi. It was a quiet one that ended early but some long distance contacts were made despite my battery pack dying early! DOH!

Have you done the channel expansion mod on your Grant 2 yet? I was getting frustrated by not being able to be heard or get out on 4 watts AF/FM and 10 watts SSB. I did the mod, cut the white wire and move the jumper to pins 2 and 3 and opened up the channels A to J as well as getting an improved 10 watts AM/FM and 22 watts SSB. I also added an Astatic Road master power mike to boost the modulation. I could have tweaked the modulation pot inside instead but decided I was not brave enough settling for the power mike alone.  That seems to be enough for now.... I am looking at reducing the QRN at my homebase for now which will be a long term project I think and sorting out my homebrew T2LT antenna for some more hiltopping. My personal goal is to get out to CT113 Alan at Pontypridd in S. Wales. I can hear him occasionally but just cant get there. A linear is probably the way to go alas that will have to wait untill the pennies have accrued; gives me a fighting chance to sort the independant power supply question out first. I don't want to rely on the car's 12v supply, I want to be independant of that in case I go walkabout and set up on a mountain.

Cheers for now Peter.

73.

Simon
CT2379

Hi Simon,

Thanks for your post.
I am working on a installing a 1/2 wave dipole this weekend, as the 1/4 wave Sirio does not seems to work to well. Hence I did not manage to get good reception / transmission in the last week.

I actually did not know about that modification on the Grant II, that sounds brilliant.
Is it really that simple?! Another thing to look into this weekend

Cheers & I will try the Souther Net again next week.
Hopefully better reception / transmission then.

73 s Peter

Worth having a listen on Thursday nights from 8pm channel 3 uk band, for the Eastbourne net.

Hi Peter,

I'm not far from you in Purley, Surrey. I hope to hear you soon and say "Hello".

73

MOSFET

GoldenEagle wrote:

Hi Simon,

Thanks for your post.
I am working on a installing a 1/2 wave dipole this weekend, as the 1/4 wave Sirio does not seems to work to well. Hence I did not manage to get good reception / transmission in the last week.

I actually did not know about that modification on the Grant II, that sounds brilliant.
Is it really that simple?! Another thing to look into this weekend  

Cheers & I will try the Souther Net again next week.
Hopefully better reception / transmission then.

73 s Peter

Hi Peter,

I'm also due to be coming on next weekend. Have 1/2 wave (A99) going up on Thursday, all going well.
I believe that your Grant II is similar to my McKinley.
The mod that can increase your power is as simple as cutting the white wire and moving the jumper block across.
Not sure what increase you get with the Grant II - perhaps others here can advise.

** You may notice that the third pin (currently not joined by the jumper) will have a permanent marker mark on it (left by the QC bloke from the factory). I removed this carefully with a sharp edge prior to moving the jumper to ensure full contact.

Picture for you:
https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jcCN8lkdZgc/Uu6QhD-rN4I/AAAAAAAAAHc/Qnsy20Bxql8/s1600/GrantMod.jpg

You will also get access to more frequencies.
On the McKinley they are accessed by pressing the F button.